Mandy May Cheetham

Actress/Writer/Producer Mandy May Cheetham was born in Toronto, ON the daughter of motorcycle drag-racer turned boat-painter turned balloon-tire-bicycle collector turned apprentice junkologist turned hipster carpenter Bob Cheetham and event planner turned boat-hostess turned hot-tub and tanning-bed sales woman turned landscape designer Jennie Robertson. Many of her parents friends warned them all their dashes (-) would result in their child turning out to be a slash (/), and they embraced that premonition heartily. Her relentlessly innovative parents lived in many wonderful parts of the city including spending two years on a 35 foot Chris Craft with no engine named Dockside which they parked at the foot of Toronto's York Street.Because she lived in a floating domicile Mandy May spent most of her elementary years at the Toronto Island Public School - home to the granola children from the Toronto Island community, a few artsy types from the Harbourfront condos, and the bad kids from Market Lane. Under the tutelage of school musical director Brenda Willis (who ran morning aerobics to Stars on 45 records) and 1st grade teacher and pianist Anne McKenna (who made Bob Dylan's 'Blowin in the Wind' a class favorite during morning circle) her abilities were nurtured through an extensive theatre and choir program that saw her act, write and sing her way through over 16 productions including a memorable take on a Jim Henson inspired play The Muppets Take the Island to which she contributed some written scenes and portrayed a deeply disturbed version of Animal whose rendition of Mana Mana had the audience questioning the effect of red hair spray paint on a child's short term cognition.After high school Mandy attended the University of Guelph with her 3 year old son and became a varsity cheerleader. She would spend the next portion of her life as an international cheerleading choreographer teaching overachieving young women and men in over 14 countries, including international championship teams from China, Finland, Sweden, Scotland and Germany how to smile so big it hurts until they out-joyed their competitors. She was again bitten by the acting bug when asked to choreograph for several national commercials and the film It's a Boy/Girl Thing produced by Elton John.She returned to acting in 2011 after a vivid dream in which she fed soup to an enthusiastic audience at SNL and then performed in an ill fitting wife beater and cut off shorts during a 1940s sketch where all the other women wore gowns. Happy to be the butt of the joke - she immediately signed up for classes at The Second City in Toronto. From there she voraciously gobbled up all of the acting classes she could and went on to study at UCB in New York where she was taught by Jordan Klepper how to incorporate hip hop into sketch comedy, and then to the Lee Strasberg Institute in NY where she was taught how to recall the smell of the metal trash can in her third grade class room (granola). After New York Mandy met her guru Gregory Berger-Sobeck who is the most passionate and interesting acting teacher in the world.Amongst all of this studying Mandy was quietly becoming an underground sensation in the hip hop karaoke community. An internationally syndicated gathering of white kids who hid in their basements in the 80s and 90s doing the running man and writing rap lyrics on their back packs and who now have their 5 minutes of fame as they worship glocks and hip hop Gods at monthly parties in New York, Los Angeles, London, Vancouver, New Jersey and Montreal. She is the three time hip hop karaoke champion of the world (ish) and has created the baddest MUTHA of a show about a suburban Mom who moves to Brooklyn to become a rapper (called Mutha).She was discovered at one of her performances by Fatlip, formerly of the Pharcyde who has been a great proponent of her career and inspired/encouraged her to write her own work - resulting in an EP entitled Lyrical Intercourse and two videos under her emcee handle Mandy Mayhem. She also unsuccessfully tried to inspire Eminem to battle her by calling him a big white chicken with beady eyes and no feathers. Her Eminem diss has nearly 1000 views on the You Tube.Since 2011 Mandy has appeared in over 60 projects as an actress and writer in commercial, TV, film, stage, stand up and improv jams and has been recognized by Funny or Die as a member of their community (the funny part, not the die part). She has lived in NY, LA and Toronto and continues to change cities as often as her parents changed jobs.With a genuine gift for comedy and a scene stealing dramatic presence, Mandy May Cheetham continues to delight fans by making them laugh and upset them by making them cry. Hide

I want people who see my work...to feel like they are able to live their lives [openly]. I want people who see my work...to feel like they are able to live their lives [openly].

[Acting] is similar to being an athlete. It feels a lot like when I was a cheerleader because the pa Show more [Acting] is similar to being an athlete. It feels a lot like when I was a cheerleader because the payoff comes and goes: it comes moment to moment, so one minute I'm like, "Oh this feels so great I just accomplished something," and the next minute I just fell on my face. Hide

I'm an actor, I'm a rapper, I'm a mother. I'm an actor, I'm a rapper, I'm a mother.

I think it's a beautiful thing when an artist helps someone in their audience find permission to get Show more I think it's a beautiful thing when an artist helps someone in their audience find permission to get close to themselves. Hide

I started acting late in life: I wasn't 21 when I started and so I felt like I had a lot to catch up Show more I started acting late in life: I wasn't 21 when I started and so I felt like I had a lot to catch up on and didn't have time to really meander through my learning processes. So it was probably a year I think, after I started acting that I went to New York to study. And then another year later I went to Los Angeles, because I figured if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it, I'm going to give it everything that I have. Hide

I'm a big believer in: at the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you. Meaning th Show more I'm a big believer in: at the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you. Meaning that when I make a decision that something's going to happen and I don't fret about how it's going to happen, it happens. Now, whether you believe that happens because the universe listens to you and then magical fairy dust comes down and suddenly things change, or whether you believe that by focusing on something, you suddenly are more aware of all the possible answers and then you're able to pick one, or maybe it's a combination of both, I'm not really sure but, I do know that it's worked for me over and over again. Hide

[Sensitivity] is a superpower because it makes you so powerful in life...I have this ability to attu Show more [Sensitivity] is a superpower because it makes you so powerful in life...I have this ability to attune myself to someone else...I can walk into an audition room and read everybody in a second. Hide

When I get really clear about what the big picture, or goal is in any situation, then I'm able to fi Show more When I get really clear about what the big picture, or goal is in any situation, then I'm able to find it in a super short period of time, but when I say 'I need to move out of here; what am I going to do about it' and I start going crazy trying to determine all the minuscule steps in between point A and point B, it doesn't work. Because I'm not open to all the possibilities that I'm not thinking of. Hide

I continuously make the choice to not take day jobs that are going to fill all of my time because I Show more I continuously make the choice to not take day jobs that are going to fill all of my time because I don't want to give up my 10,000 hours...By 10,000 hours I am referring to the concept Malcolm Gladwell wrote about [in Outliers] wherein after 10,000 hours at anything you achieve, essentially, mastery. Hide

Comedy and drama, all of it - fine art, music - it opens people up in ways that normal life doesn't Show more Comedy and drama, all of it - fine art, music - it opens people up in ways that normal life doesn't allow them to be open. That's why actors need to be so open and so vulnerable...when you're out there and you're performing...you have to give ten times what you want the audience to give back to you. Hide

I wouldn't say it was networking specifically for the purpose of networking, but it was like finding Show more I wouldn't say it was networking specifically for the purpose of networking, but it was like finding my tribe. Hide

I have fought way too hard to get to this point where I've finally given myself permission to follow Show more I have fought way too hard to get to this point where I've finally given myself permission to follow my dreams and I'm not giving them up for anything. Hide

As actors...the game that we're in is so expensive to pull anything off, that you have to do favours Show more As actors...the game that we're in is so expensive to pull anything off, that you have to do favours for each other...that's what I mean about the equity with people, it's really important that when you're starting your career that you are doing as much as you can for everyone you meet - to build up that equity. Hide

Mandy May Cheetham's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (2)

The Gulf of Silence

The Offer - Season 1